Does anyone know whether the 175 minute cut was the cut released in Italy in 1968 or was it a cut cobbled together later on, perhaps for a re-release or just the DVD of the movie? I've always been a bit confused about this subject.

Does anyone know whether the 175 minute cut was the cut released in Italy in 1968 or was it a cut cobbled together later on, perhaps for a re-release or just the DVD of the movie? I've always been a bit confused about this subject.

I have the 165 min. box set. So, what more do we see in the extra 10 minutes?

They are mostly alternate and extra takes of existing scenes with more close ups in the opening scene, and Jill entering the way station and a few others. And theres the scene where Mortons chess piece falls over.

Cheyenne's train surprise attack:- Morton noticing the metal Jester chess piece of his desk shaking from the train's movement, it falls over and he quickly grabs it upright so as not to wake Frank's men.

I have seen screenshots of this scene so I know it exists but I was quite disappointed to find it not included here.

Right, I am assuming that my DVD of the "versione alternativa" is the same "versione integrale" restored by Salizzato. This means that the Morton chess piece scene comes from elsewhere.

There is a supposedly complete version of the movie, by a guy going under the name of Leonenut, that can be accessed here: http://fanedit.org/341/. The following two claims are made: "Includes all the extended Italian scenes & shots"; "includes some unique shots from the shorter version too".

I will post some more information on how this compares to Salizatto's version once I have watched it.

Right, I am assuming that my DVD of the "versione alternativa" is the same "versione integrale" restored by Salizzato. This means that the Morton chess piece scene comes from elsewhere.

There is a supposedly complete version of the movie, by a guy going under the name of Leonenut, that can be accessed here: http://fanedit.org/341/. The following two claims are made: "Includes all the extended Italian scenes & shots"; "includes some unique shots from the shorter version too".

I will post some more information on how this compares to Salizatto's version once I have watched it.

I'm trying to download the movie from the link but when I download it through rapidshare I can't open the file.

Then check the runtime. The runtime of mine is 2:50:04. It contains 2 small interviews with Leone and Cardinale.

Mine is definitely not the the boot version by this Leonenut guy, which only adds a few sec. from the US DVD to the long cut. But the cover of mine was a different one. But it's hard to believe that there are now 2 different "long" cuts out in Italy.

If your runtime is identical, the chess parts must be there. Actually these aren't chess figures but small tin soldiers, so maybe that's the reason for the confusion.

And here you can see stills of the added material, amongst them also several stills from the tin soldiers scene (at 1:25:15):

It's in German, but it shows all the differences between the both versions.The 9 sec scene at 2:30:15 is not in the long version.

The cover of this release is also shown at the bottom. And to avoid further mish-mash: the backcover states a runtime of 175 min, but the DVD has actually 170 min in Pal, which corresponds to a 177 min theatrical runtime.

Mine is definitely not the the boot version by this Leonenut guy, which only adds a few sec. from the US DVD to the long cut. But the cover of mine was a different one. But it's hard to believe that there are now 2 different "long" cuts out in Italy.

Ok, I've figured this out I think. I have not fully compared the two all the way through but my "versione alternativa" appears to be the same as the Paramount release except it has the different browner hue to it (nicely restored) and most significantly has the correct end music with Jill's America played out in full .

This means that my memories of different shots/angles in my Italian version seem to be mistaken and that I have not seen any of the different takes in the 175min version. I guess I must just appreciate different things about the movie every time I watch it because I certainly remember seeing new shots of Jill in the buggy which, when I compare the two DVDs now, are identical.